ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER. 191 
hauled away from this ridge, whieh proved to be what was left of a small stone- 
grave cemetery. 
Of the remaining graves, we opened nineteen, all of the regular box variety, 
and then, in view of the disturbance that had been wrought by eultivation, which 
precluded obtaining complete data, and of the fact that no artifact was found in 
any of the graves, we discontinued work, hoping later to come upon a more 
representative site, though in point of fact we found no stone-grave site equally 
desirable on the whole Tennessee river. 
The nineteen stone graves which were encountered singly or in groups, but 
never more than five together, were none more than a few inches below the surface 
and had, in most eases, been disturbed to some extent by the plow. Their 
length ranged between 6 feet 7 inches and 19 inches, inside measurement. 
The graves had been placed as follows: N. and S., 1; NE. by N., and SW. by 
S., 1; ENE. and WSW., 3; E. by N. and W. by S., 5; E. and W., 8; E. by 5. 
and W. by N., 1. 
Human remains, when found at all, were badly decayed, sometimes mere 
traces, and in the case of children no more than erowns of teeth—sometimes but 
one or two. Once or twice bones of adults were distinguishable throughout the 
burial, but even these were friable and past all chance of preservation. In eight 
graves no trace of bones was apparent. Of these, five had belonged to children,’ 
two to adults, and one had been disturbed by the plow so that the size was un- 
determined. 
Of the eleven graves containing human remains, eight had belonged to adults 
and three to children. 
Nine burials had headed in a westerly direction and one toward the north, 
the determination at times being based on the position of teeth or of fragments 
of skull in the grave. One grave containing minute traces of bone afforded no 
indication of the former direction of the head. Its size, however, indicated the 
grave of an adult. 
As to the arrangement of the body in the grave, no determination was possible 
in the case of children. Where it could be made in the graves of adults, the 
burial had been at full length, though in one instance the skeleton which in this 
case was clearly distinguishable, was considerably out of position as to the upper 
part of the body, the bones of the lower extremities, however, being in order. 
This disarrangement, moreover, was not attributable to contact with the plow, 
as the bones had been amply protected by the slabs of the grave. 
The stone graves at this place, all of which were of the box-grave variety, 
had been made with considerable divergence as to minor detail. Sixteen had a 
flooring of slabs, while three were without this feature. The stone flooring was 
invariably of one thickness, though some of the graves had double thickness on 
top and at the sides, and, in one instance, even at the head and the foot. 
1 We attribute these graves to children, fully realizing the fact that some small stone graves con- 
tained disjointed bones of adult skeletons (see Thruston, op. cit., p. 29), but these graves at the T. J. 
Gray Place were considerably smaller than are the ones referred to by Thruston and other writers. 
